Scelte strategiche Gruppo VAG

[MotorPassion]

11 minuti fa, iDrive scrive:

La fonte dell’immagine e Caradisiac, la tabella stessa non so.

Ahn ok grazie, conoscevo già il sito, mi era scappata sta tabella. 😅

[pennellotref]

https://www.autonews.com/automakers-suppliers/vw-said-overhaul-supercar-strategy-putting-lamborghini-bugatti-focus

 

Cita

VW said to overhaul supercar strategy, putting Lamborghini, Bugatti in focus

EDWARD TAYLOR, JAN SCHWARTZ and ILONA WISSENBACH

Reuters

WOLFSBURG -- Volkswagen Group is reviewing the future of its high-performance brands Lamborghini, Bugatti and Ducati as part of broader quest for more economies of scale as it shifts to mass producing electric cars, senior executives told Reuters.

VW's management board and directors will look at the automaker's strategy at a meeting in November and are working on a new "to do list" as the company tries to more than double its value to 200 billion euros ($235 billion), one executive said.

The review could result in technology partnerships for the Lamborghini, Bugatti high-performance sports cars brands and the Ducati superbike brand. Other options include restructuring, and a listing or sale, said two executives, who declined to be named.

Reports last month said VW is in talks to sell Bugatti to Croatian performance electric-car specialist Rimac. Lamborghini CEO Stefano Domenicali is stepping down to join Formula One as CEO amid speculation about the brand's future.

Executives said VW Group, which also owns the VW, Audi, Porsche, Seat and Skoda brands, is looking at whether it has the resources to develop electric platforms for its smaller brands at a time it is investing billions to transform its more mainstream cars.

The stark choice faced by Volkswagen comes as CEO Herbert Diess seeks new ways to free up cash to fund its move away from combustion engines after powerful labor leaders blocked a cost-cutting drive in Germany.

In an interview with Reuters, Diess declined to comment on the high-performance brands individually but acknowledged that Volkswagen, which also has a stable of trucks, needed to reinvent itself for an era of electric and autonomous cars.

"We are constantly looking at our brand portfolio, this is particularly true during the phase of fundamental change in our industry. In view of the market disruption, we must focus and ask ourselves what the transformation means for the individual parts of the group," Diess told Reuters.

"Brands must be measured against new requirements. By electrification, by reach, by digitalization and connectivity of the vehicle. There is new room for maneuver and every brand must find its new place," he said.

Is electric worth it?

Besides building the common electric vehicle architecture that will underpin many of its bigger brands, Volkswagen needs to free up cash to develop connected and autonomous vehicle technology and new forms of mobility services.

Last year, Volkswagen sold 4,554 Lamborghinis, which start at about $200,000 and cost millions for special editions. It sold 82 Bugattis, which have seven-digit price tags, and just over 53,000 Ducati motorbikes.

But some company insiders question whether it's worth investing scarce resources to produce silent electric versions if they don't appeal to fans of the noisy, high-octane brands.

Unlike many U.S. firms that can tap more liquid and deeper capital markets to raise money for investment, Volkswagen relies more on cash flow from sales of combustion-engine cars to fund its shift to battery-powered vehicles.

"We are a large conglomerate and have to struggle with a low multiple and a conglomerate discount. But we are doing something about it," Diess said, pointing to the sale of engine drive maker Renk and the restructuring of truck brand MAN.

Diess believes the company's valuation will rise once the market understands how profitable its EVs are, but it faces a short-term investment crunch after EU lawmakers proposed a 50 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2030.

He told Reuters the goal of raising Volkswagen's market value to 200 billion euros ($235 billion) by 2025, was still valid. "We formulated the 200 billion euros company valuation as an aspirational target," Diess said.

"Volkswagen is severely undervalued when you look at its technological competence, its global positioning and perhaps also when you see that, compared with the competition, we have the best prerequisites in terms of technology."

Intelligent vehicles

Currently, Volkswagen is worth 78 billion euros, far below rival Toyota's $187 billion valuation, even though it sold more vehicles than the Japanese company last year. Volkswagen sold 10.96 million vehicles, the most by any carmaker in the world, while Toyota came in second with 10.74 million.

Analysts say that's because Volkswagen has more brands, is less efficient and has higher costs.

Volkswagen Group had 671,205 employees at the end of 2019, well above the 359,542 Toyota staff at the end of its last financial year.

Bankers are pinning their hopes on investor enthusiasm for companies pushing sustainable transportation and on support from labor leaders for financial transactions which may help Volkswagen raise cash for investment.

"The crucial thing now is to manage the transition to electromobility. That is by far the greatest lever for us in this phase," Diess said. "Individual mobility will change dramatically. Electrification only accounts for 10 percent to 20 percent of this change. The big push will come from the increasing intelligence of vehicles."

A new software stack for the company's 10 million vehicles won't hit the market until 2023 or 2024, Diess said, making it harder for investors to recognize VW's potential now.

Tesla's value has surged this year to above $400 billion as investors backed the U.S. pioneer to cash in on an electric vehicle revolution.

'The right path'

Although analysts say radical surgery is needed to boost Volkswagens' stock price, winning over its supervisory board, where workers control half the seats, may be the hardest part.

"The company's strategy is good. It has already foreseen that there will be adjustments here and there," Volkswagen Group's supervisory board chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch told Reuters, referring to some divestments already announced.

Volkswagen has no plans to list Porsche or Audi, and other plans will only get a hearing if they protect jobs in the long run, according to IG Metall, Germany's biggest union. Its leader, Joerg Hofmann, told Reuters he was not fundamentally opposed to listing, or spinning off divisions.

"We have never opposed plans by a company to fund growth on the stock market," he said. "But if the goal is to break up a company for the sake of getting a higher valuation, or to separate off 'Bad Industry,' then we say 'No,'" Hofmann said.

Rather than walking away from underperforming assets, the company has a responsibility to invest in the future of its employees and locations, he said. "I think Diess is taking the right path," Hofmann said.

After several clashes with VW's powerful labor chief Bernd Osterloh, Diess said he had changed his approach.

"In the last five years I have learned a lot here. In Wolfsburg we have our own culture and also special power structures. This requires a very integrative management style. With my sometimes confrontational approach, I have reached my limits. I have to recognize that and adjust to it."

 

[4200blu]

Il capoverso del discorso di Diess alla assemblea degli azionisti la settimana scorsa come lui vede il futuro della azienda:

 

 

 

[4200blu]

VW Group drawing up plans to carve out Lamborghini, report says

FRANKFURT -- Volkswagen Group is drawing up plans to set up Lamborghini as a more independent unit, and is discussing long-term supply deals that could make it easier to list it on the stock exchange, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

"Volkswagen is in the process of carving out Lamborghini, and to organize future supply and technology transfer deals," one of the sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Italian sports-car brand, which is currently a division of Audi, could be partially listed, with VW retaining a controlling stake, the first person familiar with the talks said.

There is no formal decision to divest Lamborghini, a second person said, adding that the timetable of any deal remained unclear.

"This is a first step which gives VW the option to list the unit further down the line," the second person told Reuters.

A third person familiar with the discussions said the future of Bugatti, Lamborghini and Ducati was discussed during a supervisory board meeting last Friday.

The possibilities for how to electrify the Lamborghini and Bugatti brands through partnerships and investors was discussed, the third person said.

Bankers and potential cornerstone investors in an IPO have been approached by the automaker, the sources said.

VW declined to comment.

Group CEO Herbert Diess said Wednesday that the automaker will announce "important steps" about the company's future before the close of the year.

Volkswagen is reviewing what role its high-performance brands Lamborghini, Bugatti and Ducati will play within the multi-brand automaker as part of broader quest for more economies of scale, senior executives told Reuters.

A global clampdown on combustion-engine vehicles has forced automakers to accelerate development of low-emissions technology for mainstream models, leaving VW managers struggling to find resources to electrify low-volume sports-car models.

 

https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/vw-group-drawing-plans-carve-out-lamborghini-report-says

[nucarote]

Se è per la faccenda della CO2, possono sempre "vendere" a Rimac. Se è anche Lambo è un buco, allora la cosa è più seria...    

[4200blu]

Anche il fatto che Domenicali scappa, secondo me significa un cambiamento piu grave per la azienda.

[Auditore]

Il castello perde pezzi. Le manie di onnipotenza portano a questo. Speriamo solo che i marchi non vengano sviliti...

[AndreaB]

In ogni caso quello sotto VAG è (è stato?) il periodo di "tranquillità" più lungo della Lamborghini.... ho idea che difficilmente potrà essere replicato ciò che è stato fatto in questi vent'anni (poco più)............

[nucarote]

Spero che VAG alla fine non ceda Lambo, se non che è IMHO difficile trovare un acquirente serio o quanto meno solido che possa portare avanti questo marchio come merita.  

[pennellotref]

Purtroppo c'è un solo marchio di tale razza che campa (e bene) sulle proprie gambe. E questa non è una bella notizia per gli altri....Speriamo bene.